Ex-cop’s gun fires at Scout meeting

Published: Friday, April 19, 2013 1:15 a.m. CST

By Daily Herald

CHICAGO (AP) – A retired Chicago police officer accidentally shot himself in the leg when he dropped a fanny pack containing his handgun following a Boy Scout troop meeting at a suburban school, police said.

The revolver discharged inside the belt-like bag after apparently landing on its hammer, Des Plaines Police Chief William Kushner said. He added that the man, who had been visiting his grandson’s troop meeting, is licensed to carry a concealed gun and didn’t break any laws, The (Arlington Heights) Daily Herald reported.

“There is no law prohibiting firearms in the school,” Kushner said.

The mishap occurred in the Iroquois Community School in Des Plaines on Monday night, several hours after the regular school day had ended. No one else was injured.

“This is an unfortunate accident,” Kushner said. “There was no collateral damage.

The meeting was over when the gun went off, and scouts and their parents were walking out of the building, said Boy Scout Troop 38 Scoutmaster Bryan Hedstrom.

“For the most part everybody had left,” he said.

School principal Michael Amadei said an in email to parents that the man’s injuries aren’t as serious as initially thought. He also said the school will discuss the incident with police and the Boy Scouts organization.

“Of course, the district does not condone bringing firearms on school grounds,” the note said.

A District 62 spokeswoman, Mindy Ward, said school district officials hadn’t yet drawn conclusions about possible policy changes in wake of the accident.